Tag Archives: LAUSD

LAUSD and Art Center partner against gun violence

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Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD), the nation’s second largest public school system, has joined forces with Art Center’s renowned social impact department, Designmatters, to implement Designmatters’ cutting-edge health curriculum, Where’s Daryl? Designed to get teens and tweens talking about gun violence in an effort to prevent it, the middle school classroom toolkit is part of Uncool: The Anti-Gun Violence Project, an award-winning program supported by the Nathan Cummings Foundation and dedicated to the memory of Norman Schureman (Product Design ’85), a beloved Art Center instructor who lost his life to gun violence in 2010.

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Art Center students and alumni ignite Spark!

Student Mathias Hintermann's Aiguille short track speed skater headgear won a Spark! Award.

Student Mathias Hintermann’s Aiguille short track speed skater headgear won a Spark! Award.

With designs ranging from a portable desk for low-income children in India to lighting inspired by the beauty found in Japanese metal craft, Art Center students and alumni brought home several awards last week from the 2013 Spark International Design Awards.

Students and professionals from more than 27 countries across the globe competed in the categories of Experience Design, Product Design, Spaces Design, Transport Design, Communication Design, App Design and Concept Design, with awards ranging from Bronze Awards to the highest award, the Spark! Award.

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“Uncool: The Anti-Gun Violence Project” Engages Children Through Creative Workshops

Designmatters’ pilot program with Pasadena Public Library offers a fresh approach to promoting dialogue and prevention

Art Center College of Design, through a partnership with the City of Pasadena Public Library, has taken its innovative gun violence education and prevention initiative into local neighborhoods. Uncool: The Anti-Gun Violence Project, supported by the Nathan Cummings Foundation, provides vital new resources for educators and prevention advocates in the form of original illustrated children’s books for six- and seven-year-old readers.

At the Pasadena Public Library, teacher LaShawn Moore reads to children from the book “Mark and the Jellybean Monster” by Art Center alumna Ariel Lee. Photo by Sylvia Sukop.

Throughout the month of April, the Pasadena Public Library has offered a series of free public programs for children and their families — hands-on creative workshops inspired by the “Uncool” children’s books — led by an Art Center faculty member and other educators, including some of the designers and storytellers who created the books. Curated by Helen Cahng for Designmatters at Art Center, the local series is a pilot program with potential for expansion in other communities.

The final workshop in the Pasadena Public Library series takes place Tues., April 30, 3:30–5:30 p.m. at the La Pintoresca Branch Library, 1355 North Raymond Ave. in Pasadena.

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